2019 Afcon: Will Liverpool’s Naby Keita help break Eagles hold over Guinea in Egypt?

Guinea won three and drew three qualifying matches to reach the final stage of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon), so they could be forgiven for going into the tournament with confidence.

Group H of the 2019 Afcon qualification tournament was one of the 12 groups to decide the teams which qualified for the competition.

The group consisted of four teams: Ivory Coast, Guinea, Central African Republic and Rwanda.

The teams played against each other in home-and-away round-robin between June 2017 and March 2019.

Guinea and Ivory Coast, the group winner and runner-up, qualified from the group to Egypt.

Full of experience on the international stage, Paul Put’s Syli Nationale have the opportunity to improve on a quarterfinal finish in 2015.

However, they will have to overcome the might of Nigeria, Burundi and Madagascar if they are to progress.

Group B

Manager: Paul Put – The stylish 63-year-old has plenty of years behind him in African football having led Burkina Faso to a second place finish in 2013 Afcon, but can he get the most out of the Guinean team this summer?

Players to watch

Amadou Diawara: Diawara is one player that will pilot the affairs of Guinea. He will surely relish the occasion.

François Kamano: The talented forward has been linked with a move to the Premier League and will be hoping to make a name for himself in Egypt.

Naby Keita

The Liverpool midfielder is a player with rich defensive attentiveness which is wonderfully complemented by an impressive intent on launching attacks as soon as he retrieves the ball, making him perfectly suited to the way Guinea is set up to play. On his day he is capable of the sublime.

The Squad

Goalkeepers: Naby Yattara (Excelsior, Reunion Island), Ibrahima Koné (Pau, France), Aly Kéita (Ostersunds, Sweden).

Defenders: Fodé Camara (Gazélec Ajaccio, France), Issiaga Sylla (Toulouse FC, France), Ernest Seka (Nancy, France), Simon Falette (Eintracht Frankfurt, Germany), Ousmane Sidibé (Béziers, France), Baissama Sankoh (Caen, France), Mikael Dyrestam (AO Xanthi FC, Greece), Julian Jeanvier (Brendford, England).

Midfielders: Amadou Diawara (Napoli, Italy), Ibrahima Cissé (Fulham, England), Boubacar Fofana (Gaz Metan, Romania), Naby Keita (Liverpool, England), Mady Camara (Olympiakos, Greece).

Forwards: François Kamano (Bordeaux, France), Mohamed Yattara (Auxerre, France), Ibrahima Traoré (Borussia M’Gladbach, Germany), José Kanté (Gimnastic Tarragona, Spain), Idrissa Sylla (Zulte Waregem, Belgium), Fodé Koita (Kasimpasa, Turkey), Sory Kaba (Dijon, France).

Past encounters against Super Eagles

1969- Nigeria 4-1 Guinea (Nkrumah Cup)
1971- Guinea 3-0 Nigeria (Int’l friendly)
1972- Nigeria 1-1 Guinea (Int’l friendly)
1973- Nigeria 2-0 Guinea (All African Games football final)
1976- Guinea 1-1 Nigeria (Afcon final round)
1982- Guinea 1-1 Nigeria (first leg World Cup qualifier)
1982- Nigeria 1-0 Guinea (second leg World Cup qualifier)
1990- Guinea 1-1 Nigeria (first leg Afcon qualifier)
1990- Nigeria 3-0 Guinea (second leg Afcon qualifier)
1998- Nigeria 2-1 Guinea (first leg World Cup qualifier)
1998- Guinea 1-0 Nigeria (second leg World Cup qualifier)
2012- Guinea 1-0 Nigeria (first leg Afcon qualifier)
2012- Nigeria 2-2 Guinea (second leg Afcon qualifier)

Previous best: Second place 1976

TheCable’s prediction: Second round qualification.

Question: When the Super Eagles face the Syli Nationale on June 26 at the Alexandria stadium for the second group B Afcon match, will the Nigerian side extend the slim 4-3 lead or will it be the sixth stalemate between both countries? Will Naby Keita matter?